Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I presume the Taoiseach is familiar with the research produced by Daft.ie- Crisis in the rental market worsens. An extraordinary set of figures have been produced which go to the heart of undermining social cohesion in our society, as well as causing wider problems with inward investment, preparing for it and the quality of life for many people in our cities and across the country. In short, average rents in Dublin have soared to an all-time high over the past 12 months to €1,350. Average rents nationwide are at €1,077. In Dublin, rents have gone up 12%. In Louth, they have gone up by 15%, in Meath by 15.8% and in Kildare by 13%. The whole commuter belt has seen significant rent increases. In Cork, they have gone up by 14%, in Galway by 11%, Limerick by 13% and Waterford by 11%.

These are the largest rent increases ever recorded by Daft.iesince reports began in 2002. This is an extraordinary crisis facing many people in our society. Over the past several years, the Government has been bereft of any response to this growing and worsening crisis. The impacts of it are stark and disastrous. Ronan Lyons, the economist in Trinity College Dublin who compiled the report, made the point that it is disastrous for social cohesion and Irish competitiveness. With the public pay and general pay rise demands, much of this is connected to the costs that people have in their everyday lives. For people working in Dublin and in other cities as well as elsewhere, rent is now the most significant cost facing them. This is feeding into the demands on the pay side which will feed into our competitiveness.

The big issue coming out of Brexit, where there might be some silver lining, is our capacity to attract inward investment. That is now problematic because of the housing situation, the high level of rents and our ability to make our cities attractive to bringing in investment from such financial services companies.

It is also exacerbating the homelessness crisis because the Kelly reforms, if I may use that phrase, have not worked. In fact, many landlords turfed out existing tenants, brought in new tenants and dramatically increased the rents. Therefore, homelessness represents a further outcome of the rental situation. We are now in the incredible position in which many young couples are trapped in the rental market. It is now actually cheaper to buy a house and service the mortgage than to rent a house. However, owing to the Central Bank rules and so on, many young couples are trapped in the rental market and cannot save the amount necessary to take out a mortgage. What does the Government propose to do? The report points to the need to deal with construction costs, particularly in the apartment sector, as one way of dealing with this.

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